


Elysium

by ssa_archivist



Category: Smallville
Genre: Futurefic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-01-20
Updated: 2004-01-20
Packaged: 2017-11-01 06:23:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/353070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ssa_archivist/pseuds/ssa_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lex makes a visit to Smallville. Warning -- character death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Elysium

## Elysium

by Lierdumoa

<http://www.livejournal.com/lierdumoa>

* * *

Lex goes back to Smallville for the summer. He drives past fields that are yellow, and overgrown. He meanders though side streets before finding his way to the town center. The shops and sidewalks are quiet now. _It's evening_ , he tells himself. _Small towns are always quiet in the evening_. He parks his car in front of the Talon and steps out, locking the doors on reflex.He makes his way into the cafe, and the door swings open almost of its own accord. A rustle of movement surrounds him, almost like a gust of wind. Lana calls to him from behind the bar. Her voice is tinny and strange, and a question sits between her brows. "Hi Lex," she says. "Anything I can get you?" 

Her words are fading in and out. Lex's attention drifts. He finds a seat and sits down. He stares at his hands for a moment. Pulls a pen out of his breast pocket. Puts it back. Loosens his tie a bit. It's choking him. The air seems claustrophobic, and Lex blinks as if he's seeing the room though a haze of dust. Moments pass. Finally, Lex pushes his chair back from his table and stands up again. He leaves the quaint restaurant without saying a word. He imagines that Lana's waving to him from the window. But that's impossible. The curtains are closed. 

Lex gets back in his car and starts to drive again. He goes over to the plant. It's not his anymore. He gave it to Gabe Sullivan a while back when he launched his Metropolis career. He still remembers the workings of it, though. He remembers the people milling about and the heavy crunch of machinery in the background. He remembers the control room, with all it's lights and switches, and his office, with the small windows. His desk had a sheaf of papers sitting neatly, a phone, and some things he brought from home. There'd been a portrait of Clark smiling at him with a basket of produce in his arms. He remembers another portrait -- one of his father. It had been knocked over at some point, to lie face down next to one of his mechanical pencils. He'd forgotten to pick it up again. 

The plant is empty now, but he still has access to enter the building. _The workday is over_ , he tells himself. _No one's here because the workday is over_. The clank of machinery still echoes in his ears. 

Lex returns to his car, eventually. He sets off driving again, and this time finds himself in front of the Kent farm. It's gotten very late, and he thinks that it wouldn't be right to disturb the house at this late hour. So he finds himself walking towards the barn. The air is dank and unpleasant. Lex pulls a tissue from his pocket and coughs quietly into it. His eyes begin to sting a bit, and Lex tells himself it's allergies. Lex doesn't have allergies. 

He stands for a moment, and remembers the way the house looked on the inside. He remembers the smell of pies baking, of fresh corn on the cobb and well spiced, homestyle meatloaf. Lex misses Martha's cooking, more than he expected he would. He thinks to himself that he'll never be able to appreciate her cooking again. He swallows down any feelings of regret. He's not sorry for the choices he's made. It's too late for sorry. Lex turns to leave. A shadow greets him at the door. A silhouette. Martha Kent, hidden from the moonlight. She seems almost translucent, almost invisible. Her voice is like Lana's was at the Talon, tinny and strange. "Lex, you haven't been eating." 

Lex closes his eyes, and his face tightens in a visible wince. "Where's Jonathan?" he asks. 

"He's not here anymore. You know that, Lex." 

"But you're here." 

She doesn't answer. Instead, she tells him, "It's nice to see you again." 

Lex coughs softly. He then pushes past her, out the barn door, towards his car. He tells himself she'll be gone by the time he looks back. He doesn't look back. 

Eventually Lex makes it back to the mansion. He leaves his car outside the gate, and uses a password to get himself through. He makes his way towards the main entryway, only to find Clark barring his way. Clad in jeans and a t-shirt. Wholesome as ever. For a moment an image of blue spandex and a floating cape is juxtaposed upon the image standing before him, but Lex blinks it away. 

Clark speaks. "Lex," he says. His voice is firm, solid, and unwelcome. Lex moves to push past him, and Clark grabs onto his wrist to stop him. Lex yanks his arm away, so viciously that Clark releases him out of surprise, more than anything else. "Lex," Clark says again, his tone tinged with concern. 

"We'll talk inside," Lex says, and walks forward into the foyer. 

Clark follows behind him. 

Lex pours himself a glass of brandy and takes a seat on the living room couch. "I suppose you're wondering why I came back," he says to Clark. He takes a sip from his glass and holds the liquid in his mouth, savoring it for a moment before swallowing. 

"Lex..." 

"I figured I'd spend the summer. It's nice here, you know. Quiet." 

"Lex, coming here won't fix anything." 

"I didn't come here to fix anything, Clark." 

Lex retrieves his tissue from his pocket and coughs into it again. There's blood on the paper when he draws his hand away. He ignores Clark's stricken expression in favor of taking another sip of his brandy. 

"Lex, you have to leave now. If you go, there's a chance the radiation poisoning won't kill you. With your metabolism you can still -" 

"I'm not going anywhere, Clark. I -" Lex's words are cut off by another hacking cough. It takes half a minute for him to compose himself. He runs a hand wearily over his bare head. 

"I am putting myself into exile," he continues. 

Clark stares at him quietly. Minutes pass. 

"I saw your mother," Lex says. "I spoke to her briefly. At the farm." 

Clark turns his head away. 

"And I saw Lana. At the Talon. She said, 'Hi.'" 

Clark's fist clenches. His lips press tight together in strain. 

"I figured she'd be angry, you know? After all, I did turn this place into a mini Chernobyl. The whole damn town in haunted. You'd think the ghosts would have more to say to me than, 'Hi.'" 

Lex laughs mirthlessly, the strains of breath transforming into yet another caughing fit. His thin frame shakes with sickness until Clark gathers him, unprotesting, into his arms, tucking Lex's bald head under his chin. "You were hallucinating, Lex," he murmurs. "It's just a side effect of the radiation." 

"Yeah, well, everyone who lived here is dead, Clark. But I guess that's just a side effect of the radiation, too." 

A moment passes. 

"Take me to bed," Lex whispers. "I'm tired." 

Clark nods, his eyes bright and wet. He lifts Lex into his arms like a damsel and makes his way towards the stairwell. Lex tightens a fist in the front of Clark's shirt. And then he is being lowered onto cool, dry bedsheets, his eyes closing under a kiss to his forehead. "Forgive me?" he asks. His voice sounds faint and far away. A high metallic echo, like Lana's. Like Martha's. 

He doesn't hear Clark's answer. 


End file.
